


These Roads Home

by Notadate (sixbeforelunch)



Category: Firefly, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-01-24
Updated: 2008-01-24
Packaged: 2017-10-07 05:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sixbeforelunch/pseuds/Notadate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So she did the next best thing, she protected him like she protected herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These Roads Home

If it had been anyone else, Vala would have just sat back, enjoyed the show, and made sure she didn't get away with anything too valuable. Or, more importantly, anything of Vala's. But it wasn't anyone else, it was Daniel and Daniel had Issues. Issues that made this sort of thing scrape against raw nerves that would never heal no matter how much time passed.

Once, she wouldn't have cared. But Daniel, Vala now realized, had been grafted onto her, his feelings twined together with hers. He hurt and she hurt. She hated it and she loved it and she didn't know what to do about it. The graft was too complete now to be ripped away. It had grown over too much time, allowed to flourish by her ignorance and neglect. She hadn't noticed it at first, then she had dismissed it and then it was too late, Daniel was too much a part of her. Ripping him away would hurt too much, cause too much pain, and Vala who had survived more than she had ever thought possible, she didn't think she could survive that.

So she did the next best thing, she protected him like she protected herself.

The tart in the yellow dress was threatening Daniel. Not his life, not yet anyway, but she was threatening to make him hurt. Vala had to protect Daniel by the same instinct that she had to protect herself. And if there was anything Vala was good at, it was self-preservation.

"What's your name?" Daniel asked.

The tart in the yellow dress picked at her hem and didn't look up. She barely whispered when she said, "Melody."

"Melody," Daniel said. "That's a nice name."

Melody just looked away. Shy and cute. Oh, well played, Vala thought. A little heavy on the helpless, but judging by the soft smile Daniel gave her, it was working.

Vala wondered if she'd gone for the helpless angle if Daniel would smile at her like that. Maybe. She could have gotten his pity and his kindness, but she wouldn't have piqued his interest and she never would have earned his respect. Vala found she liked respect over pity. Pity was more useful for the con, respect was more useful for the relationship.

The relationship was more important to her than the con these days. That wasn't as scary as it should have been.

"Melody, you do know we aren't married."

Melody looked up sharply. "But the preacher said--"

"I know what he told you, but we aren't married."

"I could make you a good wife. I could. I'm a good cook, honest. And mama always said I had the right kind of hips. Lots of little ones."

"That's...that's great. I wouldn't make you a very good husband though," he said and Vala almost laughed. "We can take you somewhere else, if you don't feel safe here. Another planet, maybe?"

"Please, just give me a chance," Melody said. "I will make you a good wife. I don't want to tell them you didn't want me."

Daniel flinched, though Vala doubted Melody noticed. "I'm sorry," he said, very softly, and Vala was sure he was, even though he really shouldn't have been.

Daniel stood up and walked a short distance away from the fire, looking out into the distance. It was a desert planet, but not barren. There was scrub brush all around, and the setting sun turned the sky red and yellow and pink and all kinds of pretty. There were other fires nearby, other ships parked on the desert ground.

It was an interesting place they'd found themselves in. No gate in this system, not that they could find, so their cargo ship was their only way home. The same ship that sat not far from where Daniel stood and that Vala caught Melody eyeing with more than a little interest. So, that's what she was after.

Vala smiled sweetly and sat down next to her. "It's not going to happen."

The glint in the eyes disappeared and the innocent was back. "I don't understand."

"You aren't getting the ship, and you certainly aren't getting Daniel." Vala tossed a handful of dry brush into the fire. It sparked and flared. "Here's how this is going to work. You're going to accept Daniel's kind offer to take you wherever you want to go. Which, by the way, is far more than you'd get if it were up to me. We're going to drop you off and we'll part company, never to see each other again." Vala patted her hand. "That way, Daniel gets to think he did a good deed, and no one ends up dead."

Melody looked at her.

"Just to be clear, by no one, I mean you," Vala said.

"I don't--"

"Vala?" Daniel was frowning at her, looking concerned and protective. Vala almost rolled her eyes.

She slung an arm across Melody's shoulders. "Just having a little chat. Girl to girl."

"Uh huh." He looked at Melody. "You don't have to worry about her, she's not going to hurt you."

Daniel looked pointedly at Vala to emphasize the point. She just twirled the end of a pigtail.

"Oh, I will," Vala whispered when Daniel had turned his back again. "If you hurt him, I really will hurt you back."

Melody full on glared at her then and Vala felt a rush of triumph. But then Melody stood up and walked over to Daniel. She pressed herself up against him. "I'm cold."

Daniel glanced at her and took a step to the side, putting a good foot of space between them. He took his jacket off and handed it to her. The disappointment that crossed her pretty little face made Vala want to grin. Daniel was kind alright, but if this little would-be con artist stepped too far into his space, metaphorically or otherwise, and Vala was going to be the least of her problems.

Melody wrapped the jacket around her shoulders. "It's a nice ship. Never seen a design like that. 'course, we don't see much where I'm from. There ain't much that comes to our town but the old supply train twice a month. I used to get all excited when I was a little one. We'd all run out and watch the train come in. Sometimes the men on the train would hand out sweets. It was real nice."

Vala rolled her eyes. Overdoing it much? Daniel didn't reply. Vala could picture the tension in his jaw without even seeing him. Did this woman have any idea of what she'd done by prancing in, pretending to be Daniel's innocent accidental wife?

Maybe right before they kicked little Melody through the gate--or, as the Tau'ri put it, to the curb, since there wasn't a gate here--Vala would smack her just for the fun of it. Just once. When Daniel wasn't looking.

Daniel was going to be quiet and moody the whole way home because of this and Vala was going to have to deal with him. Melody deserved to get smacked just for that.

"Where'd you get it? The ship I mean. Doesn't look Alliance, but tech's better than anything common folk have."

"How would you know what the common folk have?" Vala asked. "I thought you said you didn't see much where you were from. Little village, right?"

Melody full-out glared at her again. Vala crossed her arms and stared back, more to annoy her than anything else.

Daniel was watching both of them, still quiet.

"Howdy."

Vala turned and saw a tall man in a long brown coat.

What happened after that happened quickly. Melody moved and Vala didn't really consciously register the threat so much as react. The gun she managed to kick away, the punch she couldn't avoid. The side of her face exploded in pain. She went for Melody's nose, but Melody blocked her, so Vala kicked out, managed to get her feet out from under her.

And then they were on the ground and then Vala felt the familiar agony of a 'zat gun and then everything went away for a while.

When she woke up, the first thing she saw was Melody still unconscious and trussed up with rope which was a pretty nice sight to wake up to. The second thing she saw was Daniel kneeling over her, looking concerned and protective, all of it directed at her, which was an even nicer sight to wake up to.

"I would have gotten her," Vala said.

"This was faster." Daniel stood up and held out a hand, pulling her to her feet. The man in the long coat was sitting on the ground next to the fire.

"Useful weapon that."

"This is Mal," Daniel said. "And this," he pointed to Melody, "is Saffron. Or Yolanda. Or Bridget. We aren't really sure."

"Figured it wasn't her real name," Vala muttered.

"Nice ship too," Mal said. "You got a lot of real interesting tech. You from the core? Something we don't know about out here?"

"Ah. Not exactly. We're from...another part of the galaxy. We're travelers. Explorers. We got separated from out team, our people, and we're just trying to get home. We were looking for a device called a stargate which would make the trip a lot shorter, but I don't think this system has one."

Mal nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. Your business ain't none of mine."

Daniel opened his mouth and Vala poked him in the ribs. Hard. Daniel closed his mouth.

"What do you folks plan to do with her?" Mal asked.

"Leave her?" Vala asked.

Daniel frowned at her. "I hadn't really figured that part out yet. I assume you want us to give her to you."

Mal laughed. "No gorram way. She's more trouble than she's worth." He paused, sobered. "But I can't cotton to leaving her here tied up and helpless neither. I might be willing to take her off your hands and drop her somewhere remote and miserable."

"How do I know you won't hurt her? She tied up. It would be easy to..."

"You have my word of honor I will not defile her. Wouldn't want to. Kissed her once and the headache lasted for days. Don't want to know what would happen if I..."

Daniel looked at Mal for a full minute. Mal stood up and stepped closer.

"You have my word," Mal said.

"Okay," Daniel said finally.

Mal nodded and poked Melody, or whatever her name was, with the tip of his boot. "Let's go YoSaff. You're ride is pulling out and you don't want to get left behind."

"Malcom Reynolds. How unpleasant to see you again."

Mal pulled her upright, not gently, and poked her in the back. "Onward, little YoSaff. Sooner I get you on my boat, the sooner I dump your behind somewhere that isn't my boat."

Vala watched them go. She could see Mal's ship in the distance, gleaming in the setting sun.

"You knew she was a con artist from the start," Daniel said.

"Mmmhmm."

"You could have said something."

"Would you have believed me?"

"I would have been more careful."

Vala shrugged. "I thought I could get rid of her without you finding out."

"What difference did it make?"

"What she was pretending to be..."

Daniel sighed. "I don't need protecting. I'm not that fragile."

"No one with half a brain thinks you're fragile, Daniel. But that doesn't mean I need to let you be hurt if I can help it."

"I can take care of mysel--"

"So can I. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the things you do for me."

They watched together as Mal's ship took off into the sky.

"Okay. Thank you. Thank you for trying." Daniel said.

Vala smiled and punched him in the shoulder. "Any time."

The sun finally sank below the horizon. "Come on," Daniel said. "Let's go home."

fin


End file.
